Wraithing Hearts
by Hiro2258
Summary: Two sisters are on a journey to find their destinies. But when they find out something about their mother who has been gone for a while, their lives may take a turn for the worse. Original Story. If chapters fall a bit short, my apologies. :
1. A Journey of Adventures and Secrets

Wraithing Hearts

Chapter 1: The Start of a New Journey, and the Mysterious Nobleman.

It was the time of night. Quiet, desolate, no sound could be heard. And, in the distance, a shaded figure stood upon the branch of a tree. The light of the moon shone dimly across the figure. There, on the branch, was a young girl around 15 or 16. Her garnet red eyes pierced through the night, her long silver hair that was tied in a bun, gleamed like a star. But, her most notable feature was her pointed ears that just peaked through the seams of her hair.

"Come on, where are you?" she asked. "You're never late!" Avia Fluorspar was a young half-elf rogue who possessed superior skill in stealth and execution. Her speed combined with her natural flexibility, made her a force to be reckoned with.

But underneath that entire prowess, was a carefree girl who loved to joke around, despite her temper. "Geez, where are you? Hurry up!" Avia was getting very impatient. Funny thing is, no matter where she is, whether it is hot or cold, she always wore a blue tank top with a long skirt, and sandals.

"This sucks!" She looked around, and saw nothing. Then out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew right in her face, and almost knocked her off balance. "Whoa!" She stumbled back and forth until she finally regained her balance. "Phew, that was too close. Well, at least it can't get any worse, right?" (_Snap)_ The branch broke. She spoke too soon. "Uh...oh...ahh!" She fell forward and was falling fast. There was no way she could save herself this time.

Seconds later, she hit the ground hard and started rolling down a steep hill. After rolling for about a minute, she finally stopped rolling. She was badly injured, and fell unconscious.

Shortly after, another figure came and ran up towards an unconscious Avia in shock. "Uh-oh..." The figure picked Avia up in her arms. "This isn't good. I told you that I was going to be running late. And here you almost kill yourself. Oh well, regardless, let's get you back to the inn." And with that, she walked off with Avia still in her arms.

The next morning, Avia woke up and found she was lying in her bed at the inn. "Hmm?" She jumped up. "Wah! How'd I get back to the inn?" She peered over to the other side of the room and saw someone lying in the chair asleep. "Huh? Reina?" The girl in the chair was Reina Fluorspar, Avia's older sister.

Reina was only 18 yrs. old, but a lot more mature. Her eyes are a light shade of blue. Instead of silver hair like her sister's, her hair is a light blond. But, she let her's fall straight down her back. She too was a half-elf, but was not a fighter, but a sorceress. She could perform all kinds of magic. Black, anima, necromancy, you name it. But she is fonder of anima magic due to the fact that she loves nature and not destruction.

Unlike her sister, she always dressed accordingly depending on the weather. Most of the time however, she typically dresses in a traditional sorcerer's garb. "_Reina looks so peaceful right now."_ Avia thought._ "I'd better not disturb her." _She turned over and drifted off back to sleep.

Around 2 in the afternoon, Avia woke up and saw Reina making some lunch. "Well, well, look who's finally awake. How are you feeling?" She said while finishing up a stew she had cooking in a large pot.

"A little better, very sore, but other than that, I'm fine." She says that, but almost her entire body was covered in bandages.

"I'm glad you're feeling ok. Here, have some stew." She handed Avia a bowl of vegetable stew and a wooden spoon to eat with.

"Thanks." She dug in, and within 2 minutes she was done. "Wow that was fast." Reina said in surprise.

"Yep, and it was tasty." She paused for a moment, and then spoke. "Although...where the hell were you! I was waiting almost 3 hours for you!"

"I'm sorry for worrying you dear sister, but I told you I was running late." Despite Avia's temper, Reina was calm and collected.

"Oh...I guess I forgot. All I remember was the tree branch snapped and I fell." Then, as if on queue, she felt a sharp pain in her body. "Ngh." She grabbed her stomach and doubled over in pain.

"I was wondering when the pain would kick in." Reina got up and grabbed a small root from a cooler. "Here, this is an Alkai Root. This will help your pain." Avia took the root and ate it. Within minutes, the pain was gone.

"Thanks, sis." She got up and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Reina gave her a dubious look. "Just for a walk." Reina got up and stopped her.

"Oh no you don't. Not in you're condition you're not." She grabbed Avia and put her back into the bed.

"Aww man...no fair." She pouted.

"Don't fuss. This is only for your own good. Now get some more rest. We're leaving in the morning." Avia grumbled something under her breath and went to sleep.

Later that night, Reina got up and went to check on Avia. She opened the door to the room, and peered in. "Avia, are you asleep?" She went inside and saw that the covers were on the floor. "I thought I told her to get some rest." She went outside the inn and looked around for her.

She didn't see her, but then heard a voice shout out: "Hey! Reina, up here!" Reina looked up and saw Avia sitting on the roof of the inn with her feet dangling off the side.

"What am I to do with you?" She shook her head and used her wind magic to teleport to the roof. But upon appearing, Avia leaped out of her spot.

"Geez, you may be able to use magic, but that doesn't mean that you can just appear out of nowhere and scare me like that."

Reina chuckled."Sorry, but the look on your face was priceless. You didn't even expect it." She chuckled again. Avia's face turned beet-red.

"You jerk."

Reina shrugged and sat down next to Avia. "So Avia, why'd you come onto the roof? Couldn't sleep?"

"Yeah, couldn't sleep. I was just thinking of tomorrow being the anniversary of Mom leaving us. She spoke in a low but sad voice.

"Huh, you're right," Reina said. "Tomorrow is the anniversary mom left home to start her own journey. It must've been difficult for her to do this." She yawned. "Funny, I remember the day you graduated from the university and started your rogue training. I loved the expression on yours and mom's face when you graduated." Reina's consoling worked, and lifted up Avia's spirits.

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" She wondered.

"Hopefully." Reina paused for a moment.

"Anyway, let's get to bed. We've got a long day ahead of us."

"You're right, let's go." The sisters smiled, and went back into the inn.

The time was seven in the morning. Karamine Castle was normally booming with people. But today, it was like a ghost town. The only one in sight was King Timaeus who was pacing around the center hall.

"Damn it! Ever since the arrival of that cursed vampire, people have been too scared to come out of their houses. Hell, some of my best knights and archers are too scared. Not even my mages are the least bit scared. This is getting out of hand, and I can't take this anymore. Teige, get in here!"

The room got quiet for a short while, and within moments, a shady man in a dark purple cloak appeared form the shadows. "You called my liege?" Teige said as he stood awaiting his orders.

"Yes. As you know, a vampire has trespasses on these grounds and already killed nearly 12% of our people." The king thought for a brief moment.

"I need you, Teige, to put up your strongest barrier and use your other abilities to track down this monstrosity."

Teige stood there for a moment. He shook his head, bowed to the king, and started to fade into the shadows. "You have my word….your Highness." He disappeared.

Timaeus felt an icy chill run down his back and shuddered.

"Hmm…I don't know why, but something doesn't feel right about him." He shrugged, and went back to his quarters to rest.

Meanwhile, below the castle grounds, was a large chamber. Inside it stood a tall figure. He wore a nobleman's suit, and had a rapier sheathed by his side. He held what seemed to be a beaker, and was incorporating a substance into it.

Teige quietly appeared and leaned towards the back wall. The man immediately sensed him. "So Teige, have you anything to report?" Teige nodded.

"Yes, it seems that old fool Timaeus is scared out of his boots. He doesn't suspect a thing." He grinned. The man turned and faced the sorcerer.

"Excellent. That's the way it should be. Now our plan should go without a hitch." He replied.

Teige shook his head. "Yes, normally you'd be right. But, you forget about his daughters. Those two little elves. If you're not careful, it could end badly for you."

Teige recalled the time when he was seriously injured by the two elves approximately one year ago. He cringed from the memories.

The man turned back around towards his experiment with a sneer on his face. "Yes, I'm well aware of that. But they have no idea what I'm capable of." He took a few minutes to finish his experiment. Once he was done, he started to head out the door.

"And where might you be going?" Teige asked.

"I am going to see if I can't get rid of those pests. You stay here and do as Timaeus says. We'll play his little game for a while. Oh and while I'm gone, do keep an eye on that experiment." He left.

"Hehe…as you wish, Sragna." He stood back up to set the summoning circle in place for the spell. He started an incantation in an ancient language. "Kinshra Hiant Moredha!" A dark radiant aura appeared from his hands. The aura was fed into the circle and dispersed around the perimeter if the entire kingdom. Once dispersed, it brought itself to form a large orb that surrounded every nook and cranny of the kingdom, even underground.

Teige finished the barrier within a matter of seconds, but then started to cough up blood. "Tch, damn those little brats."

He staggered towards the table and grabbed a bottle of liquid with a label that read "Teige". He opened the bottle and took a drink of the liquid. The blood he had coughed up was sustained. He took constant readings of the experiment and recorded them for Sragna.

About thirty minutes later, Sragna made it to the main hall and was about to leave, when King Timaeus came out of his room and noticed Sragna leaving.

"Oh, Sragna," He called out. "It's rare to see you here. Normally, you're cooped up in your lab doing experiments. This almost seems like an honor to see you."

"My king," He bowed. "I merely have some errands to run. I need to head to the Cicada Mountains to pick up some more hematite for my experiment I am currently working on. I will return within but a few days."

"Very well then. I wish you the best of luck on your little excursion. But please return as soon as possible. With that vampire roaming around, I'd hate to see anything happen to you."

"You have my word, King Timaeus. I bid you farewell." He turned and left.

The main hall got quiet, and Timaeus once again went back to his room to rest once again. Once Sragna made it out to the castle grounds, he glanced back at the castle and smirked. "Soon the King shall fall, and my plan will be nearly complete." He stormed off in a hurry and was gone by the time the sun peaked over the horizon.


	2. Behold This Saddening Tale

Chapter 2: A saddening tale

"Are we there yet?" Avia complained. "I'm so hungry right now." They had been traveling since sunrise.

"I told you to eat before we left. We'll be to the next town in about 10 minutes." Reina replied.

They were traveling to a town to meet up with an old friend who apparently knew where their mother is.

"Yeah, but I wasn't hungry then. Man, this is such a bore." She took out her daggers and started fiddling with them. They continued walking until they could see the port town just over the hill.

"Kracia, it's been a while since we last came here. You might not remember though, because you were only 7 when we were last here." Reina let out a smile.

"I was?" Avia asked. "Wow...I guess time really does fly doesn't it. Hey wait a minute, why couldn't you just teleport us here? I know you can." She gave her sister a suspicious look.

"Well, I wish I could've, but I can only do the teleportation spell up to but a mere 10 miles. On top of that, I can only do that once every couple days. That takes a lot of energy to perform"

Her sister didn't buy it. "Fine, I'll believe you this once. But I think you are just being lazy." She couldn't help but laugh. Reina twitched and took her fist and pounded Avia on top of the head. "What was that for?" She scowled

"Well, I can't be the kind older sister all the time."

"Ouch. I was only kidding." She rubbed her head. They walked a bit more when suddenly a barrage of flaming arrows hurled towards them.

"Deflect!" Reina exclaimed as a barrier formed and caused the arrows to bounce off. The arrows collided with each other and exploded, causing a cloud of smoke to form. Once the smoke cleared, a hoard of monsters appeared before them.

There were about thirty of them, albeit they were only groups of trolls. Now trolls were naturally fast and were experts with bows and arrows to begin with. The one thing that truly made them fearful was the fact that they had regenerative capabilities.

"Hmm...an ambush eh?" Avia let loose a mischievous smile. "Reina, may I?" She asked while she prepared her daggers. Reina let loose a sigh.

"Oh I suppose. Go ahead."

"Sweet! Well, here I go!" She leapt towards the trolls with precision speed. There, she started to hack and slash away at the trolls. Normally the trolls wouldn't be hurt by her attacks, but she knew their one weakness.

The only way to turn their own regeneration against them was to impale them in the hole that lies in the crown of their forehead.

This caused the unfortunate trolls to implode. With Avia being a rogue, she has had a lot of training in "fancy footwork" which allows her to move at a very fast rate. Within mere moments, the trolls were all gone, and the threat was nullified.

"Nice job." Reina was surprised at how fast Avia has made progress.

"Thanks, it was no problem at all."

She held up the victory sign. They brushed themselves off and made their way into the village. They asked a local salesman where the temple was. The salesman pointed towards the east and said it was near the edge of the harbor.

They went into the temple, and asked a nearby cleric to meet with their friend. "Yes, it would be my pleasure." She led them to the main hall and offered them something to drink. They accepted the offer and she fetched them some fresh juice in a bronze goblet.

"Please enjoy your stay. My master will be with you shortly. She bowed and left.

They waited for about fifteen minutes until the main corridor doors opened. Out came an older man who was roughly in his late thirties. "Ah, Avia and Reina, it's been too long. How have you fared?" he sat down in front of them.

"We have been well Rodimus. Now if I heard correctly, you have some news for us?" Reina had asked.

Rodimus bit his lip and was hesitant. "Well, yes I do have some news. But I'm afraid I must tell you that it isn't pleasant." He took a deep breath, and spoke.

"I met with your mother only two weeks ago. She came by one day looking for some potions, and an ancient tome. We were able to get her the potions, but the tome had to be retrieved from a sorcerer's guild deep in the woods."

A breeze blew through the windows, and blew out all but one candle. "I decided to go with her to show her where exactly the guild was. We were just about to make it to the guild when suddenly we were ambushed by a hoard of monsters." He gulped.

"What happened after that?" Asked a worried Avia.

"Oh, the monsters were no problem for us. But that was just the beginning. Shortly after, a nobleman appeared in front of us floating in midair. His eyes glowed a dark scarlet color." He took another deep breath. "Your mother tried everything she could, but even with her skill, the attacks had no effect on the mysterious fellow. I tried to place a purification trance on him, but in the blink of an eye, he vanished."

Reina sat there blank-eyed. "Rodimus, surely you must be joking. Is this really a possible feat?" The shocked priest shook his head.

"I wish I were only joking, I really do. But I saw it with my own eyes. He suddenly appeared behind your mother and knocked her out cold with just a whisper. I tried to help her, but he launched me towards a tree and knocked me out cold. Once I woke up, they were gone."

Avia was so stunned by this that she almost broke down into tears. "But how!? Mom was one of the greatest sorceresses in the world. It's just too hard to believe. What happened after that?"

"After I woke up, I noticed two small gems lying on the ground." He reached into his robe pocket and pulled out two different colored gems. Reina took them and examined them.

"These gems are from both Coppereign and Karamine. And the only way to obtain these is to be a part of the royal family service. This is including both of the main kingdoms. What can it mean?"

"Maybe someone pretends to work for one kingdom, but secretly works for the other. What do you think Reina?" Avia asked. Reina had a puzzled look on her face "I mean think about it. We haven't been home in five months so we have no idea of how may have joined the castle ranks."

"I can't really say at the moment, but that is a good possibility. Now you are right about one thing. We haven't been home in a while. Now come, we must be going."

All three got up and said their farewells. The two girls left the temple shocked, but still remained calm at the situation.

Outside of the temple, they went into the local inn to get something to eat. "Man, I can't believe all this happened. It's completely insane."

"I agree with you Avia, but all we can do now is figure out who did this, and stop them." They stopped talking for a while, and continued eating their meals.

------

Meanwhile, Rodimus was making his way back to the corridor, when a shadow appeared behind him. "I let you live, and you betray me like this? No matter, all your worries will end here soon." Rodimus tried to move, but was impaled through the chest by a rapier.

"I-impossible. I-I can't believe it had to end like this." His voice was becoming fainter and fainter. "Girls, f-forgive me." He said with his final breath before falling dead towards the ground. The blood gushed out of his chest and flooded his body.

The figure sheathed his rapier after cleaning off the blood. He sneered like a demon, and vanished in a flash.


	3. Charming Proposal The Tournament Awaits

Chapter 3: Thousand Swords Part 1: Preparation

Reina was taking a stroll around town, looking for an antique shop. She had heard about a rare talisman that is said to increase the magic capacity of the wearer. Reina asked the townspeople where the shop was, but none could answer her question. She then decided to lay down a cantrip that turned into a small compass that can track magical energy. The center of the compass had a small eye in the middle. The eye opened up, and projected an arrow to try and find the location of the store. The arrow spun around for a second, until it pointed up into the air.

"Hmm, that's odd. Why would it point up?" She looked towards the sky and saw a piece of paper float to the ground. She grabbed the paper and saw that it was a flier.

"**Dear folks of Kracia. Are you a fan of fighting? Or perhaps just some swordplay? If so, then come on down to the Thousand Swords Tournament. Anyone 16 and over may join. Any form of weapon maybe used. Magic is strictly prohibited. However, if you have an enchanted weapon, then that is the only exception to the rule. Whoever can win the tournament, will have a chance to fight our 2-time world champion! The prize for besting the champion, will receive the one of a kind Cascadian Talisman, said to greatly enhance the magical capacity of the wearer. If you are interested, the signup sheets are in the marketplace right by the butcher shop."**

"No wonder my spell wasn't working right. If that's the case, then I guess I will sign up for the tournament." Just then her brain sparked an idea. "Maybe I should see if Avia wants to enter. I just hope I won't have to fight her in the later rounds. That would just be awful." She went to the marketplace to sign up for the tournament, and noticed that Avia's name was already on there. "Oh, looks like Avia thought ahead for once. Although, this is Avia we're talking about. Always so quick to join in on the fun." She picked up some groceries along the way and went back to the inn. She made her way back to her room, and noticed that Avia was still sleeping. Reina stood there for a second, and saw that it was already high noon. She then smirked and snuck towards Avia, and clasped her hands. The sound of firecrackers fluctuated, and Avia fell out of her bed and hit her head. "Good morning sunshine, did you sleep well."

Avia glared at her sister in rage. If looks could kill, Reina was dead meat. "Ok, I appreciate the wake-up call, but you didn't have to give me a freaking heart attack."

"Like I said a couple days ago, I can't be nice ALL the time. Someone needs to keep you in line."

Avia scoffed and went in the restroom to get dressed and ready to go. Once Avia was ready, the two decided to go back into town and do a bit more shopping.

"Hey Avia, I noticed that your name was on the sign-up sheet for the tournament. When did you sign up?"

"Oh, uhh…I just remembered that I need to check up on something over by the tavern real quick." She started to back away nervously "I will see you later tonight, okie doky?" She quickly walked off and seconds later she was gone.

She raised her eyebrow in confusion "Odd...just what is she up to? She seemed as if she was nervous about something." She shrugged it off and headed to the local armory to buy a sword for the tournament. She entered the store and the shopkeeper greeted her.

"Welcome to O'Neill's, the best place for handcrafted swords of the like. We've got a wide selection, from bronze swords, to carbon-steel blades. And what might I do for you young lady?"

"Hello there. I am going to be entering the Thousand Swords tournament being held tonight, and I am looking for a blade that can handle magic enchantments. What would you suggest for this?"

"Wait…let me get this straight. A little girl like you is entering the tournament? But you seem so fragile. If you fight in there you would certainly be destroyed. But if you insist…" He grabbed his crutches and starting wobbling over to a wall that had rows of swords. Each sword was group by type, so that way people can find exactly what they're looking for. "If you need a sword that can handle an enchantment, I would suggest this broadsword." He took down a gold-plated broadsword that had a copper tone finish to the hilt. In the middle of the blade was a small cardinal ruby that was in the shape of a cut diamond. "This sword is called Bras Guiche. It is one of the 1st swords I had crafted a long time ago. The Ruby diamond in the middle of its blade is the implement to which the enchantment can go through and enhance the swords capabilities. However, only specific enchants will work on it. Should you give it the wrong enchantment, the sword will break and it won't be able to be fixed at all."

Reina held the sword in her hands and felt the energy flowing through the sword. She then got a small vision that seemed to show her what enchantment the sword will take. "It is truly a magnificent sword. How much for it?"

"Considering the rarity of this sword, I would price it at around 2.5 million dollars. I know it might seem pricey, but I can guarantee it will be worth it."

"It's a deal." She took out her pouch and she paid the full price. "Although I'd heed caution. If I find out that this sword isn't as great as you say it is, I will get my money back, and I will make sure your life is a living hell. Understood"

"Yes, yes of course. I can guarantee that this sword will not fail you."

Reina nodded to the shopkeeper and walked out with her new sword in its sheath. She decided to take a break, so she went back to the inn to relax. She got back to the inn once again, and she noticed Avia was back and saw that she was cleaning up in the bathroom. She saw scratches and bruises on her arms and legs. "Wow, you're back early. Where'd you go and why do you have scratches and bruises on your arms and legs?"

"Hmm? Oh hey sis. I heard about the new fencing school that opened up in town so I decided to check it out and I ended up becoming a temporary instructor until the real instructor came back. As you can probably tell, I got a little bruised up. It's nothing too bad but nonetheless I got a little dirty."

"I see. Then why did you scurry off like that earlier?"

"Ah, well I wanted to check out the fencing school and I didn't tell you because I thought you wouldn't let me go because of my *ahem* playfulness with others."

"I'll take your word for it. So, what do you want for dinner tonight? If you didn't really care what we had, I was going to suggest going out to eat at this bistro I've heard so much about.

"Sure, just give me a couple moments and we will go." And with that, they headed out the inn and went to the bistro to eat. After 3 hours of stuffing their faces, they went back to the inn and Reina prepared for the tournament. She had cast a spell on her sword that gave it the ability to grow vines around the sword. This allowed it to extend the sword into a whip-like weapon. Avia on the other hand, sharpened her daggers and made sure to take out the poison that was in a small compartment in the hilt. She didn't want to cause any fatalities for once.

"Hey sis, how about you go on ahead. I still need a few minutes to prepare."

"If only you're about it."

"I am. Well, I'll be right behind you in a few minutes." Avia let out a small smile and Reina returned said smile and left. The room quickly got quiet. Avia looked out to make sure Reina was already gone. "Ok, NOW I'm ready!" She reached under the bed and put on Kracian soldier armor with a gold helm. On the tabard in the center of the shirt read "**Thousand Swords" **Avia leaped out the window into the starry black night, and headed towards the coliseum. About a minute later she found the secret entrance in a small corner of the coliseum walls.


	4. Dreams and Glory Or Is It Really?

Chapter 4: Thousand Swords Part 2: The Preliminaries

Shortly after Reina appeared before the coliseum, she was stopped by one of the guards who asked her why she was in the lower part of the coliseum. "Civilians aren't allowed down here unless you're fighting in the tournament. But I can see someone like you wouldn't DARE to enter such a tournament of high magnitude. I can tell by just looking at you that you won't even last one round in this."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am choosing to partake in this tournament. And don't worry about me, I can handle these people no problem." She stuck her tongue out at the annoying guard and continued walking into the coliseum. The guard stood there dumbfounded and scoffed.

"Yeah you continue walking you pompous, flat-chested, little bitch!" Those words rung right into Reina's ears and she finally snapped. She looked to make sure no one else was around. She quickly took out her sword and slammed it into the ground. Vines suddenly appeared out of the ground and entrapped the guard with no hesitation. Well, at least I know my sword works properly.

She walked back up to the guard and stared him down. "Say one more thing like that again, and I'll make sure you never escape from this town. Understood?"

The guard nodded in fear, and was released from the vines. "Umm…forget what I said before. You have a wonderful time in the tournament." Reina put on a light smile, said thank you and once again, made her way to the prep room.

The guard looked back at her in fear. Good grief! She may be a looker, but God is she scary as hell. He thought.

Once there, she looked around for her sister but couldn't see where she was. She asked some of the contenders where she might've been, and they all shrugged saying they don't know. Hmm…I wonder where she might be. I just hope she appears in time for the tournament. Reina geared up in basic fighting armor and conjured up a simple, but sturdy shield. She sheathed her sword until it was time for the contenders to make their ways into the arena for the opening ceremonies.

Once they made it out into the arena, the Mayor of Kracia went up to the podium and signaled for everyone to be quiet and listen up. "Welcome one and all to the 116th annual Thousand Swords tournament. For those of you who are witnessing this for the first time, I shall explain the rules and regulations that are to be followed at all costs during this tournament. As said on the flyer that was passed around town yesterday, melee weapons are the only weapons you can use. Magic is strictly prohibited, unless it's an enchantment for your own personal weapon. This tournament is for anyone 16 or over who is willing to participate. As for the rules, the number one rule you MUST follow at all times, is killing off your opponent. You may knock them unconscious but if me and the guards notice a fight that all of a sudden turns seriously ugly, we will stop the fight and whoever decided to go too far will be expelled from the tournament immediately. Otherwise, anything goes. Now then, to decide the pairings for the tournament, each of you will pull out a card with a number and letter on it. This tells you which block you are in, as well as when your fight will take place. And whoever wins the entire tournament, will fight our 2-time reigning champion! And should the challenger come out victorious, he or she will win the coveted Cascadian Talisman! Now that we have all of that out of the way, we shall begin the pairings."

The gong sounded, and the cheering of the crowd echoed and roared throughout the coliseum. Reina was starting to get worried that her sister wasn't there yet. Then, she heard a familiar voice. "Hey Reina! I'm here!" she turned around and saw Avia running up from the gate to the middle of the coliseum. Avia stopped in front of her sister, and started panting heavily, trying to catch her breath.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but where were you? You missed the opening ceremonies. And now we are starting the lotto draw for the tournament match-ups."

"I know I know, I'm late and I apologize. But right after you left, I started to head for the tournament when I saw a nun from the Kracian temple running out screaming. I asked her what was wrong and she said that Rodimus was found dead in a pool of blood this morning!"

"What! You're kidding! He can't be dead. We just saw him yesterday! 1st he tells us our mom went missing, and now he's dead?"

"I was so shocked I almost broke down completely, but I then decided to go looking at the church for a while to see what might have happened to Rodimus." Avia was about to continue when the gong sounded once again. It was time to go up and draw cards for the brackets. There were about 100 people participating in this tournament. Reina and Avia picked up a card from the box and were happy with their individual choices.

"I'm in block A. What about you Avia?" asked Reina.

"I'm in block H. Figures...the older sister gets the 1st block while the little sister gets the bottom of the barrel. Damn bourgeois."

Reina raised an eyebrow. Bourgeois? Does that even apply in this case?"

"But the good news is that it looks like we won't have to fight each other in the prelims. The downside is that because of us being in different brackets we can't watch each other fight."

"Well, such is life. Let's just agree to try our hardest in this tournament and hope that one of us can make it to the top and win the entire thing." Reina held out a hand. Avia grabbed her hand and gave a nice friendly handshake.

"It's a deal. Well, block A is about to start. I guess you better get going there sis."

Reina smiled dearly at Avia and walked off into the center of the coliseum, while Avia went to the prep-room to wait her turn, all while grabbing a small snack from the wandering vendor.

Turns out when the referee was matching up the combatants, Reina just so happened to be chosen as one of the people going to fight in the 1st match. "Would Reina Fluorspar and Antonio Kanteras please come towards me?" Reina was already waiting for her opponent. She saw a masked figure standing right next to her. He bore a black bandana, and wore what looked to be bandit's clothes. His eyes behind the cloth mask gleamed in the color of lapis lazuli, and carried a Spanish rapier by his side.

"I am Antonio Kanteras, good referee." He said while he bowed elegantly.

The referee stood there in confusion but when cleared his throat. "Ok, you already know the rules, so I expect a good, clean fight. Understood? Now then, make your way to the starting points on each end of the coliseum. When I blow the horn, you may begin." And so the two competitors made their way to the ends of the coliseum, and were ready to go. The referee then blew the horn, which signaled they may start the tournament preliminaries.

They ran towards each other and within a few seconds, their swords began to clash and clang. They seemed evenly matched at 1st, but then Antonio jumped back and lowered his rapier. "My lovely Reina, we do not have to fight. Just allow me to take you out on a date, and we'll drop out of this tournament. What do you say mi rosa encantadora de batalla?" Reina blushed as the comment but then shook her head.

"Thank you for such a lovely offer, but I'm afraid not. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to win this match right now if you don't mind. She stuck her sword into the ground, and like earlier, the vines came crawling up from the ground, but this time, they didn't bind her opponent. They knocked poor Antonio high into the sky, and he came crashing back down.

He laid there in shock, and finally fell unconscious. The referee checked on the now unconscious masked man, and saw he was knocked out good. "Ahem...I am please to announce that the winner is Reina Fluorspar! She will be moving on to the next round."

Reina jumped for joy and teleported herself back to the prep-room and sat next to Avia, who was just finishing her snack. Avia jumped out of her seat when Reina appeared out of nowhere again.

"Damn it, Reina. Don't do that! It bugs the hell out of me when you do that. But even so, congratulations on winning the 1st match! It sounded like the guy you took on was very easy to beat."

"Why yes, he was quite easy to beat. Although he DID try to ask me out but I turned him down. Ok he WAS a charming guy, but he just wasn't my type."

Avia laughed so hard she nearly shed some tears. "Wow. And here I thought you were going to accept that date rather than turn it down."

Reina scoffed. "Yes, yes very funny. Do you wanna get hurt again?" She said as she smirked oh so sly at her little sister.

"Shut up."

Time flew by, and it was then time for Avia's block to start. Within an hour of the fights, It was finally time for Avia's turn. "Well, off I go! Time to kick this guy's butt and get back to my snacking!" Avia made her way to the center of the coliseum.

Once again, the referee called out the names of the next two combatants for the last match of block H. "Would Irion Flase and Avia Fluorspar please standby for your," But he was completely interrupted by a freezing spell which caused him to stay in place, frozen like water, along with all of the folks in the crowd, and all of the competitors in the tournament.

Avia and Reina were immune to the effect and Reina ran outside to see what was going on. They were then approached by a mysterious man in a dark purple cloak. His face could not be seen, but he definitely seemed like a very strong necromancer. Normally, it takes at least 3 mages to freeze an entire coliseum, but the mysterious man did it all in only 10 seconds. He was truly a force to be reckoned with.

Avia took out her daggers, and Reina took out her enchanted sword. "Who are you?" Avia asked. "And what do you want with us!"

The mystery man looked straight at the two half-elves and grinned. "My name is not important, but my master requests your presence. So if you don't cooperate," He started charging up a large dark energy ball. "Then I will have to blast you to bits myself!" he exclaimed as he hurled the dark orb. Reina countered his spell with a basic fireball spell. The two spells collided with each other and resulted in a huge explosion.

The arena was concealed by smoke, and Reina and Avia couldn't tell what was going on. Just who is this mysterious guy, and why does he want to kill the young half-elf sisters? The truth will be revealed in time.


	5. Enigma! Just What Is Going On Here?

**A/N: **This is my own original story, although i got the ideas for the storyline from many different sources

**Disclaimer: **Well after much procrastination, and mostly being lazy, I finally got chapter 5 completely finished. In chapter 4, the Thousand Swords tournament was just getting underway, until a mysterious figure came and tried to annihilate our 2 heroines by shooting a black energy orb while Reina fired a basic fireball spell in which the stadium became completely obscured. Will the sisters be able to make it out of this one? Stay tuned to find out.

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Chapter 5:

Thousand Swords Finale: Interruption

The entire coliseum was shrouded in a thick smoke caused by the collision of Reina's fireball and the dark orb fired by an unknown entity that came and froze everyone up in the stands. The only one who could see almost clearly through the fog was Avia.

She saw Reina standing right next to here, and the mystery guy floating in the air about 10 yards away. She began to think of the best way to stop this conflict, but so far no ideas came to mind. Reina on the other hand thought for a moment and then came up with a sudden plan. She walked up to Avia and whispered her idea into her ear and Avia's eyes just went wide. Avia nodded to her sister's idea and leaped into the fray just as the smoke was clearing.

As soon as the visibility was clear, the mystery man looked around and could only see Reina and was about to charge up another dark orb, but then Reina suddenly vanished from sight. "Teleportation using wind magic. This girl is no ordinary mage that's for sure." He scanned the area but was then welcomed by a quick slash to his arms. The daggers connected with the flesh, but they didn't cut the skin at all. They seemed to just phase through him.

"What the hell? Said Avia as she did a somersault and landed back on her feet. "That was a clean cut, why did it go through you? And why aren't you poisoned!"

The mystery man just stood there and cackled as his flesh when from see-through to normal. "Unlike ordinary monsters I am able to change the dimensions of my body from solid to intangible. The second I can sense you, I can alter my body to make your attacks just phase through me. Now then, should I kill you now or torture you later? Ah, I've got it." he started casting something that caused phantom hands to pop out of the ground and grab Avia and restrain her down. The mystery man cackled once again and charged up another dark orb. "Now then little girl, it's time for you to say goodnigh-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was welcomed by an unexpected crackling sound. He turned around abruptly but saw nothing until a long stream of lighting came crashing down towards him. He tried to become intangible, but the lighting came down too fast and exploded right on top of him. Screams of agony came from the explosion, and when the smoke cleared once again, the guy could not be seen anywhere.

"Way to go Reina! Our plan worked!"

Reina nodded her head in agreement, until she spotted something in the ground. "*gasp* "AVIA! LOOK OUT!" she tried saying to her sister, but it was too late.

In a split second, a pair of sharp claws came out from underneath the ground and speared the back of Avia's legs, along with her left shoulder, while one more pair of claws came and slashed at her back, leaving a big gash that went almost straight down. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" cried Avia as she immediately fell to the ground, while bleeding horrendously from all her wounds. She was losing consciousness fast as she was wallowing in excruciating pain.

The claws burrowed back underground as the mystery man came up from the gravel almost completely unscathed. The only sign of injury was one small scorch mark in his torso. Reina stood there paralyzed with fear "I must congratulate you little girl. I wasn't expecting you to shoot that lightning bolt from such a close range. If i didn't make my body intangible and immediately hide underground when it connected, I may not have survived that attack. But as you can see," he pointed at his torso. "I only escaped with but a worthless injury. Too bad for your sister though. Don't worry, I didn't kill her immediately because i wanted her to suffer a slow and painful death. If you don't heal her soon, she will take the plunge into eternal damnation. So I'll ask you one more time: Come with me quietly with no fuss, and I will let you and your dear sister live. I will even make sure she fully recovers from that brutal attack i just did on her."

Reina had tears stream down her eyes as she was still in pure shock. She didn't know what she could do at this moment. Should she give in and save her sister from death, or should she try and stop this menacing threat? Out of fear for her sister's life, she went into a blind rage and started barraging the guy with an array of various fire, ice, and lightning spells, but they kept phasing through him. She then took her sword and tried to entangle him with vines, but once again, it was proving to be ineffective. Running out of ideas, she quickly became exhausted because she was using up too much energy.

"I admire your courage, but going into a blind rage and not trying to pinpoint your spells and attacks will leave you with no chance of beating me. Since you seem to not want to take my offer, i guess I will have to kill you two after all." He held out one hand to an unconcious Avia. "And I'll have to start with her since she poses the least amount of threat."

Reina quickly used the last bit of energy to teleport herself to Avia and try and get her out of there, but one of the guy's hands contsricted her before she could grab her sister. He then bound the two together and was about to blast them for good this time when his hand all of a sudden exploded.

"Urgh," he said as he gripped his hand. "What was that? How did my arm get blasted?" He jumped up and surveyed the area again but didnt see anything until something landed in front of him that broke and splattered all over the ground. "A vile filled with acid? But how!"

"Oh it's quite simple actually there laddie." said a voice that echoed throughout the stadium.

"Where are you," he said as he levitated away from the acid. "And what the hell do u want?

"This is the part where yeh burn to ashes." the voice then leaped from the top of the stadium podium and plummeted towards the ground. He threw another vile that broke right next to the spilled acid, and the acid then burst into flames, creating a pillar of flames. The dark sorceror was then enveloped in the pillar, and was slowly disentigrating into ashes. There was no escape from this one.

"Aaaaarrrrrrgggghhhh! You haven't seen the last of me you cur! Know and fear my name: Irion Flase!" the flames were put out, and the body was gone. Irion Flase was the name of Avia's opponent that she was supposed to fight. Just what was this guy?

When the guy landed onto the ground, he opened up a scroll and magically restored his viles to their original appearance and sheathed then back into his bag. He stood no more than about 4'5", and was very stout. Long braided hair accompanied with hazel colored eyes, and a thickset beard that sat right across his face. He wore black and gold armor that made him almost look like a knight

Reina grabbed Avia in her arms and got up off the ground to greet the dwarf. "T-thank you for..saving us."

"Oh t'was no problem lassie, just doin' mah civic duty is all. Now let's get yeh two to my campsite and get your sister there some help. 'Cause of that mysterious fellow, you could be in some serious trouble if yer not careful."

Reina chuckled despite being tired. "So what about the stadium and its people?"

"Oh they'll be fine. I set up some viles of scalding hot water that will melt the ice without hurting the citizens. As fer the tournament, looks like you two wont be able to finish it. Tough shame, it really is, but whats more important is gettin' yeh to safety. So let's be off then."

"Right. I'm Reina by the way, and this is Avia."

"It's a pleasure, the name's Durnell."

With Avia in her arms, and the bleeding being sustained, Reina and the bomb-using dwarf Durnell made their way to his campsite, unaware of the surprises that are sure to come.

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Well that took a bit of time to do XDD i hope you enjoyed it!


	6. Finding Peace of Mind

**Disclaimer: Hiro2258 owns nothing except his own ideas and creations, but most of his ideas are based on already occurring ideas.**

**A/N: Well time for chapter 6 of Wraithing Hearts. This chapter might be a bit boring, but it provides us with a simple calming flashback. I realize I've been lazy and haven't updated in...well quite a while but I hope you enjoy ^^ I will try and get chapter 7 which is halfway done up and running as well. have a nice day ^^**

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Chapter 6: Mending of the Soul

Back at Karamine, King Timaeus went out onto the highest balcony of the castle. He gazed out over the land, wondering how such a peaceful environment could turn into a realm of chaotic disorder. And yet there still many people in the world who try to preserve what's left of the land and try to nourish it back to the way it was before all of this madness began. But the world has always been like this no matter which way you look at it. The thought of a perfect world that has no cataclysmic strife seems almost like a pure fantasy. Timaeus would love nothing more than to see his wife and daughters just once. It's been three years since he's seen his wife Kyra, and only six months since he's seen Avia and Reina, and yet he still worries about all of them. Slight tears formed within the vicinity of his eyes.

"Oh Kyra, if only you were still here to see what has become of our precious kingdom in this time of dark radiance." Timaeus wiped his eyes to prevent the tears from flowing as he went back inside the castle. He walked around the garden hoping that the flowers would calm his mind. He came across a wide array of various roses which suddenly brought him back to one of his favorite memories. It was a time when Avia and Reina were 7 and 9 years old and their mother had come back from another training sabbatical.

-Karamine Castle Garden 9 years ago-

_"Hey mommy, check out this new spell I came up with!" said a young Reina._

_Kyra stood there watching her young daughter. Kyra looked like present day Reina except a bit older. Slim figure, beautiful eyes of amethyst purple, and a riveting smile that could make even the toughest bunch of guys become total softies._

_Reina drew a small magic circle and began chanting. "Oh spirits that wander the plains of the forest. Flora of the world, I bless those wilting away." The circle began to rotate is it illuminated with light green. "Ventus Salutaris!" She placed her hand on the ground as waves of light spread over the willowed flowers. As if by a miracle, the flowers suddenly grew twice their size and were healthier than ever. Avia's cuts and scrapes from messing around were also healed as well._

_Kyra stood there in shock and realized that her own daughter is already a brilliant sorceress and she hasn't even hit her coming of age. Not to mention, she wasn't even ten years old. "That was amazing Reina," she ran up and gave her daughter a big hug. "When did you learn to do that?"_

_"I watched you casting a healing spell, I think, on a few of the soldiers and so I decided to do some more studying and I made my own spell that can heal the flowers and small cuts and bruises." That innocent face of hers was just too much for her mom to handle._

_Avia saw what Reina had done and so she wanted to try a trick too. She took out her toy short swords, threw then as high as she could, and tried to do a double cartwheel with one backflip all while trying to catch both swords at the end. Unfortunately, as she finished the backflip, the swords came down on top of her head and left a nice apple-sized bump on the top. "Ouchie..." said Avia as she teared up and gripped the back of her head. "..Stupid swords falling on me. waaaah! It's not fair!" And thus began the crying._

_Kyra looked over and saw that Avia was hurt and she picked her up and calmed her down by humming an old lullaby. The hymn she hummed worked like a charm every single time. Avia's crying lasted no more than a minute at the most. She set her down to the ground and waved a hand over Avia's head and the bump was healed._

_Timaeus saw what had occurred while leaning against the door and laughed slightly. He knew they were all something else. Reina was a gifted mage and Avia was a gifted acrobat. And his beloved wife was just the epitome of perfection, and he loved her with everlasting passion. Although he couldn't help but feel jealously for not having special talents, he was still very proud of all of them._

_The day slowly came to an end as the girls came in for the evening. The setting sun lowering behind the horizon was always a sight to behold. _

_-Back to Present-_

Timaeus smiled sadly. "...Beautiful." He decided to say a silent prayer for the safe return of his family as he went back inside to relax for the rest of the evening. "Such beautiful memories ineed..."

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**Well, there we go. a nice little slow, solumn-yet-calming chapter. Stay tuned for the next few chapters ^^**


	7. Grim Malice

**Disclaimer: Hiro2258 does not own anything except for his own orignal ideas and creations, but may base said ideas and creations on previously hatched ideas that other people have come up with.**

**A/N Ok here comes Chapter 7 of Wraithing Hearts! I hope you enjoy! ^_-**

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**Grim Malice**

As the witching hour passed through the night, a chilling roar bellowed upon the summit of the Cicada Mountains as the full moon seemed to be lit ablaze by a sea of flames.

"Oh please, you think that alone will work against me you overgrown lizard?"

In one swift motion, the tip of a rapier collided with part of the flame and started to glow silver as the flames slowly dissipated and were absorbed directly into the blade.

Twirling the hilt of sword between his fingers, the flames completely disappeared and the sword turned from a rapier to a flameberge that then glowed red as a rose. He made a threatening gesture as he stood there waiting.

In a furious act of malice, the dragon swooped down with his claws in frenzy in an attempt to crush this foe, but seemed to only hit solid stone that split into a crater. Looking around for the enemy, the dragon suddenly felt something hit the nape of his neck and cried out in agony as the beast's life came to an end.

The sword emitted an aura of fire that allowed it to eviscerate the head as if it were butter. The newly severed head plunged fast down the mountain as it landed in the nearby village just at the base of the cliff.

Screams of terror raged throughout the village as the head of their beloved guardian just stared them down in a piercing, cold gaze. Puddles of blood quickly flowed out from the head, causing more devastation in the eyes of the villagers.

"Oh dear, this is most unfortunate," said the figure sarcastically. "Well, only one thing left to do."

He took out a vial filled with some sort of powder and took aim towards the village as he flung the vial straight down. The vial collided with the dragon head, causing a strange cloud of glittering black dust to dispel into the air around the severed head. In mere moments, the head started to shake dramatically as the dust became infused into it.

In a violent rage, the dragon head jerked awake and wreaked havoc upon the citizens. Infused with the black powder, the dragon head poured forth from an acidic flame that spread like a plague around the town.

The water evaporated from their bodies, their bones started melting, all that was left was a rotted-out dehydrated corpse with melted bones, and an empty soul. The entire town was ravaged for only a few moments, but no life remained. The dragon head fell to the ground and the powder that was infused into it leaked out and imploded the head as well as half the town. From up top the cliff, a bone-chilling laughter emanated from the figure.

"That's more like it."

As the clouds pressed on, the crimson moon slowly came into view, illuminating the figure. Poisonous violet eyes sat between shoulder length blond hair. A brown, leather hat sat upon the top of his head giving him a malicious dark glare. A dark green nobleman's uniform clothed the slim, yet toned figure. He had an air of elegance about him that made you think of a charismatic knight of a royal army. The flameberge, though now sheathed, still emitted the aura of fire.

"Now that one problem is out of the way, it's time to get back to the _real_ reason I'm here."

Walking over to a stand alone rock formation, he magically materialized a pickaxe and started chipping away at the rock. And yet no hematite was in sight after 10 minutes of non-stop mining.

Sragna was slowly losing his patience. Out from his overcoat he took out another vial, but this time contained in it was a white liquid. Spreading the liquid across the rocks, Sragna figured that would suffice for now, as the band of rocks twinkled with small white spots in various areas. Thus indicating the most likely location of small hematite ores. However, as opposed to using the pickaxe, he once again unsheathed his flamberge.

Using the same swift-yet-fluidic motion that decapitated the dragon, nearly half of the entire formation collapsed upon itself with super heated rock starting to melt. Out of the rubble, 37 full motes of hematite came tumbling down to Sragna's feet. This pleased him greatly.

"At long last, my purpose up this hellion of a mountain is finally complete. This much hematite will certainly play a handsome role in my plan. Once i make it back to my laboratory, I can check up on Teige and further allow my plan to-"

Just then, a portal of shadow opened up in midair, dropping off a messenger's scroll before closing.

"Looks like Irion has something to report to me." He picked up the note off of the ground, undid the lacing and perused its contents. The note was written, more like magically etched in Urila, the ancient language of sorcery, and read:

_My liege, I have done as you instructed, and made my assult on the two whelps. _

_However, complications arose. _

_They were worthy adversaries, but did not come close to my own power. _

_The deed was almost complete, the half-elves were nearly dead, until I was attacked by alchemical bombs._

_Yes, it was HIM. He's made himself known again. Durnell, that damned dwarven alchemist, your most hated enemy if i recall? _

_He nearly destroyed my physical form, so i retreated for now._

_He's a crafty one, that Durnell. _

_I can offer no more information more than that. Don't search him out, let him come to you. He's appeared to have enhanced his abilities since you both last crossed swords. _

_Be warned. On top of that, watch out for the young sorceress, the older of the two, she has...aquired some interesting abilities. No time to waste, get a move on. I'll report back when I can._

_-Flase_

The note crumpled up in his fists as he ripped it to shreds. This added a new problem to his list, probably the most agrivating one yet.

"That dwarf never ceases to put a damper on my plans. Knowing him, I gather that he will pass down his alchemical knowledge to the king's daughters and further attempt to overthrow me. The Larion clan has always been well known for their ties to ancient alchemyIn terms of chemical and alchemical knowledge, I admit that we are on par with each other. No matter how strong he gets, he will never surpass Sragna Kresius! I will make that pest wish he were never born!

His violet eyes gleamed in the moonlight as fangs portruded from his canines. He stored the motes of hematite in a small box, jumped off the cliff, and vanished into the crimson moonlight. Albeit not before letting out a petrifying howl of pure anger.


	8. Hellion

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own original ideas, though i may get my ideas for things based upon other sources.

A/N: Well, you all got a little taste of Sragna's power as well as his malicious intents in Chapter 7. He's a bit of a cold hearted jerk isn't he? This chapter is a follow-up to that. Sragna returns after a bit of a detour, possible chemical explosion, yadda yadda, stuff like that. Enjoy! -Hiro

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Hellion

The pungent smell of melted copper, lime, and sulfur filled every square inch of the lab. Vials and flasks were nearly foaming over from the violent reactions occuring within them. Teige couldn't keep them under control, he looked at his master's notes but found nothing that would help him. Needless to say the lab wasn't looking too good.

With a wave of his hand, a dark energy pulsed around the lab table and the experiements came to a halt, as if frozen in a minor dimensional rift, yet everything else was moving as normal. A fatal accident was prevented...for the moment at least.

"..That should hold it until he gets back and fixes _his_ damn mess. I kept an eye on his experiments, that much I can do, but unlike _some_ people, I don't really give a care for the chemical arts. It was his carelessness that nearly caused this whole area to blast us all away, thus leaving the two of us more vulnerable than ever." Putting a hand to his chin, he grimaced at the lab and scowled. "If he's not back within the hour, I swear i will say to hell with it and blow this accursed area into the ground!" yelled the necromancer.

(_Some random amount of miles away from the castle)_

High noon came quickly, the sun was high in the clouds, seemed like great weather for a stroll back to the castle. Well, unless you count a torrential downpour with whipping gales, and debris flying everywhere as "good weather". The storm was ruthless and uncaring, ripping anything that stood in its path to shreds. Even if that didn't stop someone, the rain and debris might kill or drown you to say the least.

For Sragna, he was lucky enough to wade through the storm with minimal problems. Unfortunately, he wasn't proficient enough in sorcery to do anything about it. He would've faded into the void and traveled through the shadows, but the encounter with that dragon as well as flying off of the Cicada mountains actually wore him out to limit himself to only about a fraction of his..unique power.

Though in the grand scheme of things, it must just be the effects of karma and this storm being a way of reaping what he's sown...or just kicking him in the ass. Looks like even the most powerful servant to the king can be hindered by a major storm.

"...This storm is a perfect backdrop for someone's demise. However, it is far from being acceptable to run through!"

His wading quickly slowed from the high winds, heavily hindering his movement. And it didn't help the fact that he is still about four and a half miles from the castle.

"Bah, if it wasn't for that overgrown lizard, I would've already been back to my lab finishing up my newest creation. Though I can't help but wonder what's become of Teige? Knowing him he's probably nearly dead on the floor thanks to that.."illness" of his. No, he's too prideful to let that happen. Oh well, as long as he hasn't destroyed my lab, things will suffice for now."

Though it seemed like a meaningless effort, he tried to use the last of his energy to fly through the air for the remainder of the distance to try and cut the time by at least half. The wind worked in his favor for the most part. The tailwind sped up his movement for a good 15 minutes or so, though things slowly turned to hell. Almost 3 miles later, a single powerful bolt of lightning struck down from the dark stormy heavens, and scorched Sragna's already lacerated left arm, from the previous night, while he was flying, crippling his flight pattern and sending him straight down from the sky.

However, in a bizzare twist of fate, before colliding with the ground, a symbol in the shape of claws outlined by an aura of sorts became etched into the ground as Sragna was slowly consumed by a dimensional portal. He recognized that infernal symbol.

"That seal...what does _she_ want? That woman is starting to agrivate me!"

Into the portal he went, sailing through the twisted nethers, and bound by an oppressive force. An older female voice echoed through his mind: _You dissapoint me, Sragna. I gave you a specific task, and you let it backfire. I shall see you shortly, so I do hope you enjoy the ride._ A quaking laugher plagued his mind.

He soon found himself coming about the surface into a large room, the throne room to be exact. The layout was simply extravagant, exquisite even. Silver studded chandeliers on both sides, walls made of emerald sequins, and a polished marble floor with that same symbol from earlier stretched out from the center covering nearly the whole area. However, no windows were to be found. In the shadows, a figure sat upon the throne, legs crossed.

"So, her royal prissyness decided to summon me from the middle of nowhere. What is it this time, Aurorai?"

With a wave of her hand, the molecules in the air seemed to take a form of ice and expanded to the form of large spikes that entrapped Sragna.

"It's _Queen_ Aurorai to you insect! I gave you a simple task: Eliminate King of Karamine's daughters before they could wage war on us! Because of your carelessness, Irion Flase, my most TRUSTED necromancer, was nearly obliterated! He now sleeps in the astral plane to recover his energy because you underestimated your opponents once again!"

Lifting two fingers in the air, a psychic wave surrounded the ice, causing the spikes broke off into thousands of smaller spikes and made their way to rip Sragna to shreds, but surprisingly all they did is lacerate all sides of him repeatedly.

"Ahh! Damn you, W-What are you doing! AUGH!"

"Though i could just use stronger psychic pulses to punish you, but I find that small fragments tend to do more damage over time. So unless you wish to die for real you should tell me what you plan to do to rectify this grand mistake of yours!"

"Damn. Damn! DAMN! I HAVE HAD ENOUUUUGGGGHHH!"

Bending over in a defensive position, his eyes radiated a dark violet color, canines grew twice their size as he howled like a madman and slammed his hands on the ground which initiated a shockwave that blew away the psychic-controlled ice spikes. In a maddening rage he teleported in front of Queen Loria's face with his flameberge at her neck and vampiric claws near her stomach.

"If you think you can threaten me by cheap parlor tricks, then you are dead wrong..but! I will tell you what you need to know only if you do ONE thing for me."

Using more of her psychic powers, she moved him just out of range and stood up from her throne and into the dim light that eminated from the chandelier candles. A long elegant black dress was accompanied by blue stockings, webbed gloves, and a tiara. She looked around 40 to 50 at the least. Slight wrinkles could be seen but put that aside and she was actually quite the beautiful woman.

"And that would be?"

"Send me directly back to my lab in Karamine. That will suffice."

He remained cautious, but still held his breath. The queen just laughed at this pathetic creature.

"Hmm...I'm in a fairly merciful mood so I will comply with your request, but only after I get EXACTLY the information I need."

"Good. Now could you please let me down?"

"...Tell me what I need to know right here and now."

He scowled at her but realized it was useless.

"Fine. Now listen up."

He made sure no one was around and told the Queen his plan.

Ten minutes later, her muscles tensed as she flared up.

"..This plan had better work, or you will spend the rest of your days trapped in the pit of the Gricioun planes, where you will be ravaged by the guardian creatures that roam within. You will be stripped of ALL of your abilities, every single sense of touch will dissapear except your ability to experience quintuple the pain inflicted. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear. Sragna Kresius?"

"Yes my _queen_. Now teleport me to my lab at once! I held up my end of the bargain."

She blinked and he fell through yet another portal.

"Remember: One more slip-up and you will pay dearly!" She said as the portal closed.

Once again warping through the twisting nethers, his anger still lingered but still had a flicker of pain on his face from that psychicaly-induced ice spike assult. His wounds were healed as he traveled, but the pain was still slightly there. Upon reaching the surface of the lab floor he saw Teige getting ready to destroy the lab. Wow, has an hour really gone by that fast? Sragna appeared and knocked him out of the way, causing Teige's spell to dissipate.

"What in the Gods' name are you thinking! Why are my experiments frozen in temporal stasis!"

Teige got up off the ground and just stared at his "partner".

"..I did what I had to do. Because of your blatant carelessness, your experiments nearly caused a catastrophic meltdown. So _I_ did the _logical_ thing and froze time around them until you got back to fix it. If you weren't back within the hour, I would've made this lab never saw the light of day again. And you would have had to start from scratch all over again."

Sragna wanted to kill him right then and there, but decided to let this one go, considering the mishaps that had occured.

"I see. I'm fortunate that you restrained yourself, but on my way back while traveling through a torrential storm, I get pulled through a portal into Queen Aurorai's _throne room_ where I come to find out that Flase is in the astral plane recovering, and let's just say I got a lecture via pelted by psychically created and controlled ice spikes. Hundreds of them. Needless to say I got off easy. After making her a deal, she let me go and teleported me back to here. Saying this leaves a bad taste in my mouth but she is one of the few people that I actually fear."

Sragna took the time to quickly control his experiments using a couple samples of his recently gathered hematite finely grated into each of his near overflowing vials as Teige cut off the stasis spell and surprisingly, the hematite did the trick.

"You better be greatful, Sragna."

"Oh don't worry about small details. Actually, you are free to go. I'm in a foul mood, and giving you a day to do whatever you wish and not be in my presence is an honor so take advantage of this offer."

"...Thank you."

He nodded his head and dissapeared into the shadows. Sragna continued to work on his supposed "greatest creation". He took out his flameberge and ignited the aura within. It surged and pulsated as he took one of the vials and dipped the sword into it. The aura reacted with the formula causing something to rise up from the aura and taking form.

"At last, once this is complete, this world will bow down to its rightful master. And more importantly, the king and his daughters will be powerless to make an attempt to stop me."

He opened up a locket which allowed him to see up to 30,000 kilometers and the locket showed a dungeon. A figure stood chained up along the wall, very pale and weakened, though not showing any emotion at all as if under a zombie-like state.

"As for you my friend, we will see what your fate will become."


	9. Investigation

Chapter 9: Investigation

One week had passed since the Fluorspar sisters came across a deadly, monster sorcerer named Irion Flase. With his ability to become intangible, he gave the girls one hell of a challenge. Avia tried to surprise him from behind, but her attack seemed to pass straight through him. Just as Irion explained his unique gift, Reina unleashed a devastating array of lightning spires that caught him off guard as they crashed into him. Just when the girls had a sigh of relief, it was too late. Irion came up from the ground and speared Avia through the shoulders as well as leave a large gash across her back. Mortally wounded, she fell to the ground. Small puddles of blood poured forth from her wounds. Reina went into desperation as she let loose a plethora of spells, but again they had no effect.

When things looked grim, a shining object came crashing down upon the sorcerer of darkness, essentially melting some parts of his monstrous flesh. Confused and shocked, he fell victim to another concoction that exploded and seared enough of his body away to force him back to the realm he came from. The thrower of the vials was a dwarven alchemist named Durnell. Since then, the sisters were taken back to his campsite and were nursed back to health.

Avia's injuries were more severe, so she's been recovering the longest. Reina on the other hand had been assisting Durnell with his research into Nordic mythology. Roughly ten miles east of the camp, Durnell and Reina got a lead on a sealed chamber nearby. Hopefully it was the one he had been looking for. Upon closer examination, he gathered that it was in fact the right chamber. A seventeen foot stone door came straight down the earthen wall, heavily fortified as it guarded any sort of treasure that was hidden within its chambers.

Specks of jewels were embedded around the center, taking the shape of a large hammer when connected properly. Etched dead-center of the wall was a single slot, small enough for a rune to be able to be fit in it with minimal effort. Being a descendent of Nordic heritage, Durnell was enthralled.

"This is simply astoundin'! Look at the size o' it! It's a true masterpiece to behold. I can't wait ta open it."

Reina's eyes widened at the sight as she chuckled at Durnell's excitement.

"I must admit I'm a bit jealous of you, Mr. Durnell. It's still almost hard to believe you do this for a living."

He let out a wholehearted laugh as he patted Reina on the shoulder. Well, at least her arm anyway. He may be taller than the average dwarf, but he was still at the bottom of the height scale.

"Ah, don't worry about that. Stick with me long enough and you and your sister will get more than your fair share of ancient history. Plus, if things work out well enough, I may get to teach ya a few "tricks of the trade" so to speak."

After carefully scanning the sealed door a bit longer, the two made their way back to the campsite to go over their research and try to make a connection. Besides, Reina wanted to check on how well her sister is recovering. Since it had rained the night before, their tracks were still visible from the soggy ground, so finding their way back was fairly simple, even if the forest was very dense and almost suffocating from how close the trees were to each other.

"Also..feel free to just call meh Durnell. No honorific needed."

The sound of lances breaking on the armor of the knights was enough to startle Timaeus while he was in deep thought studying the map of the continent. Looking out the tower window, he saw jousters going at each other with intense concentration. He took a gander at a nearby scroll of planned events and realized that the jousting tournament was going to be held there at Karamine kingdom in a fort night.

"I can't believe I completely forgot about that. If I remember correctly, two other kingdoms will be participating alongside my own kingdom. I wonder if Aurorai will be coming out to participate."

He scowled at that name, and even got shivers when that name was mentioned.

"I sure hope not. She terrifies me with a passion. Beautiful she may be, that succubus dominatrix of a queen has one nasty temper."

With that note he went back to his map gazing. Not having any word from his family, he tried to figure out where they should be. Desmaran wasn't a large continent, but the kingdoms were scattered all over the area. Some were larger than life, and others were of unimportance to most hire-ups. From his observations, he gathered that at the very least they passed through Kracia based on the time they left home up until now. However, the area quickly branched out in many directions. Mainly heavily wooded areas with ravines and small mountains along the very edges. Timaeus was at a loss for the moment. Hopefully he gets to hear something soon. Otherwise, even he may start to go insane.

"Well I think that's enough for today. In the meantime, I think I'll start a training session with the knights and squires to see: 1.) How have they improved on their fighting skills and 2.) To make sure I haven't lost my edge just because I'm a bit old."

Who knew even a king could have a decent sense of humor? Going to the now empty armory, he geared up in knight's armor, no helmet, brandished a longsword and hoisted a shield on his back and was preparing to make his way to the sparring ring when he saw Teige cloaked in the shadows of the castle walls meditating with his spellbook open. A deep scowl ran across his face. Out of curiosity, he reluctantly walked over towards the caster.

"...Teige, how are you faring? I haven't noticed you with Sragna the past few days."

Teige's concentration didn't falter for a second, but conjured up a floating message written in plain English using only his thoughts: "Sragna's carelessness nearly destroyed your beloved castle. He has given me time off to stay out of his sight while he works. That bastard has something up his sleeve, but I'm not sure what. Keep a watch on him on occasion. Now leave me be to my meditation. I'm reinforcing my barrier and it requires absolute concentration."

"Very well, good luck."

Timaeus nodded and left him be. As he approached the sparring ring, the knights came to full attention and saluted their king. Knight-General Verun rode up mounted on his horse and saluted.

"My king! What brings you to the sparring ring? And why are you clad in armor?"

The king looked up at the general and smiled as he took out his sword and shield.

"I was watching the jousters train and I decided that I wanted to come down here and train a bit with everyone. I can't let myself get rusty in my old age, can I? What kinda ruler would I be if I couldn't even best a few squires and knights?"

Verun was dumb-founded but was amazed at the king's statement.

"Yes sir! That would be an honor! Please, join us for our training session!"

"At ease, Verun. From now on, whenever I come to the training area for some practice, forget me as your king, but as one of your knights. I don't want you to hold back against me."

The general led his king to the training grounds and they began their session.

Back at the camp, Reina saw Avia sitting down on her bed eating some food. She had bandages wrapped all around her chest and arms and still seemed a bit weakened, but ultimately she was recovering quite nicely. She walked over to her sister and sat down across from her.

"Well good morning there, little sis. I see you're coming along well. I'm amazed you're up after only a week."

Avia looked up at her sister and gave the biggest grin in the world as she jumped and hugged her.

"You dumbass, of course I'm fine. You can't keep Aviana E. Fluorspar down that easily!"

That was the first time Avia had used her full name in quite a while. Shortly after, she squeezed Reina much harder.

"But even so, I'm just glad you're ok! That stupid monster nearly killed us! I was so petrified that I couldn't do a thing after I got stabbed! I thought I was going to die, damn it!" She made a pouting face at her sister.

Reina smiled and ruffled her sister's hair as she got up off the bed and stretched her arms.

"Well, at least it's done and over with for the moment. Thanks to Durnell."

As if on cue, Durnell walked into the tent and held up a couple of large tomes.

"Oh it just touches mah heart to see two sisters getting along with each other. But we've got bigger things to worry about. I need you two ta come into my study so we can discuss what we found earlier."

By study, he meant oversized tent that looked like a small library filled with tomes, scrolls, and maps in each corner. In the middle was a decent sized meeting table. Where the hell does he store all of this stuff? He gathered them around the table as he laid out a scroll depicting the design of the sealed cave they had found earlier.

"Ok, as you know, we came across this chamber about 10 miles east of us. As you can see, the jewels take the shape of a hammer, and in the middle looks like you could fit a small rune square in the center with no hassle. However,"

He paused as he took out a book and started looking for the section on Norse deities. Once he found the page he was looking for, he took notice to King Odin, thunder god Thor, the sons of Ivaldi, war god Tyr, and hunting god Skadi. All of them fit perfectly with the hammer symbol.

"We have five most likely choices. The problem with that is figuring out how to open the door. From the looks of it, we may have to insert a certain rune, but even I'm not sure where to get a rune that matches the shape of the slot."

He flipped the pages of the books like mad, and was making marks on his maps.

"If only we could find some ruins to excavate. Maybe then we might have a chance at finding some more clues.

"Well, I may not be good with excavation and such, but I know a thing or two about ruins. From what I remember, ruins are mostly found on forests' edges. And to some degree, closer to the ocean. Looking at the map, we should probably head towards the mountains in the northeast to start. We're closer to that side anyway. It's our best bet." Avia suggested much to Reina and Durnell's surprise.

Reina looked at Avia. "Sounds like a good plan. What do you think about that Durnell?"

Durnell smiled at the two of them and slammed his hands on the ground in excitement as he jumped up from his seat.

"Ha-ha! Yer sister is a genius! Why that is a magnificent plan Avia! You are just like your parents in every aspect! Though are ye sure yer not my daughter? Guahaha! Let's get a movin' or my name isn't Durnell the Alchemist!"

Obviously excited, Durnell packed up their things and start spraying the camp with some sort of substance that would shrink the entire camp a liquid state that fit within the vial. When asked about it, he merely responded with: "This is one of my specialties. This sort of formula took many years to perfect. But it works like a charm, and makes clean up a hassle. Though reforming it back to the way it is..well...somewhat difficult."

And with that they headed through the forest in hopes of finding suitable ruins to explore to try and find more clues to opening that blasted chamber door.


	10. Ruins to the East Part 1: The Search

The Ruins to the East Part 1: The Search

Just as Avia had predicted some time earlier, there were in fact ruins to the northeastern side of a mountain pass called Mt. Zelgyr, no more than a mere 5 meters from the ocean itself. Mt. Zelgyr is the only mountain landscape in the area whose smooth-yet-winding trails make for easy trade across towns and oceans.

In the center of it all lies a small spring with crystal clear mineral water, and two wooden huts. One functions as an inn, and another functions as a store for those who needed rations and other supplies. That aside, it has been said that it's had a reputation for being a staple for wandering pirate gangs who take advantage of the rich landscape for various expeditions involving pillaging, plundering, piracy, that sort of thing.

The mountain itself stretched out in a large semi-circle with numerous tunnel entrances, but they are heavily reinforced with soldiers at certain checkpoints to keep track of who passes through the area; trained to not accept any bribes nor back down from danger. Obviously a safety precaution due to the high rate of piracy over the last few years.

Durnell looked up from his map as they were nearing the ruins. "Seems to meh that this here mountain will be our main route of escape in case we end up in too much trouble." He scanned over the landscape and figured they would be able to use tunnel entrances like a maze to lure any enemies into a false sense of security.

"Wouldn't we get lost in those passages?" asked Reina.

Durnell gripped his heart and let out a mock cry of pain. "Oh, I'm hurt. Ya seem to forget who yer travelin' with. You done break mah heart for sayin' such a thing. This is what I do fer a livin'! Now come on, time's a-wastin'! Let's find that rune!"

He ran full speed to the entrance of the ruins, but admittedly it wasn't very fast. Those stumps he called legs made his run look like a slow jog.

"Curse these legs o' mine." He muttered under his breath.

The sisters looked at each other and giggled before they jogged behind Durnell to the ruins.

The entrance was a narrow archway adorned with fetishes and two unlit braziers. The entrance, however, was blocked by a stone slab—similar to the one found in the forest—but this one had a sliding picture puzzle.

"Hmm...fifteen tiles, each with its own picture, one empty space in the top left corner...this is child's play!"

He began sliding and moving around the tiles in a careful manner, slowly decoding the rearranged picture. The picture began to take form as Durnell was nearing the end of the puzzle. Stars aligned in a pentagram-based shape surrounded a Viking holding a large cleaver sword in a berserk stance while an anvil sat at his feet. They knew for sure they were in the right place. As the last tile was slid into place, a line cut down the middle of the stone slab and the slab slowly spread apart and went into small crevices as three passages were revealed to them. Identical in appearance, it was hard to tell which way would be the better choice.

"Great. Aren't ruins supposed to be, you know, _ruined_? These ruins seem too perfect. Everything appears to have been kept maintained."

"I know what ye mean. I dun like it either, but we have no choice. If we're to figure out what's behind that barrier, this is the only thing to do."

He reached into his pocket and took out three runes: one dark red, one dark blue, and the other dark green. He handed the red one to Avia, green to Reina, and kept the blue one.

"These runes have a Nordic symbol on them. Simply trace the symbol with your finger and it will send out a beacon to the other runes. In case we get lost, these babies will float in midair and will guide us back to a designated spot. More specifically, the same spot we're standin' on at this moment. Report back 'ere in one hour. Whoever's not back by that time, not to worry. The rest of us will search fer ya."

"Sounds like a plan. See you guys in an hour." Avia immediately went left and rushed off as usual.

"I suppose I'll take the right. Good luck." Reina walked carefully into the right corridor as she too faded from sight.

Durnell inhaled deeply and stretched his limbs. "Those girls are definitely Timaeus' daughters. So full of life, anxious to learn about the world, and they have a higher tendency to run off with no real plan." An image of their mother flashed in his head. "They certainly took after their mother in terms of appearance. Reina inherited her kindness, and Avia inherited her gung-ho spirit."

He looked at the corridor ahead and shrugged. "Let's be off, then." He too began his trek within the ruins.

After wandering around that long passageway, Avia eventually came to a clearing. The rest of the ruins on that side to be precise. Avia walked around the perimeter, quickly analyzing everything that she saw. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she at least had to try. Piles of bones and carvings were scattered everywhere. The entire section was a mess. Avia wouldn't able to walk around without stepping on _something_ ancient, old or decrepit. She eventually came to a pair of braziers that were surprisingly lit.

A pale green flame weaved back and forth, guided by the subtle breeze that loomed throughout the broken down ruins. Something was odd, though. Flames are not normally green. The only time things like that were witnessed, was during sacrificial rituals to the Gods. The only way one would make green flames was either through magic, or the blood of a shaman.

She placed her hand over the flame, and sure enough, her skin wasn't seared one bit. As she pulled her hand away, it ended up getting stuck. There was nothing there, but her hand wouldn't budge. A small gleam caught her eye, but she couldn't place it.

Taking out one of her daggers, she slashed near her hand. Snapping sounds could be heard as that same gleam came from multiple sources. Avia then came to the conclusion that they were near-invisible wires.

She was able to free her hand and jump back a few feet. Unsheathing her second dagger, Avia took on a stance and gazed around the area. If there were wires around the braziers, then there had to be more traps. Something was being guarded, she was sure of it. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the braziers to be lit in any way, as there were no indications of a ritual starting to take place.

It was then she found herself being frozen in place, and floating ever-so-slightly above ground as she was hurled towards the back wall. Upon making contact, a glyph formed right behind her as electrical currents coursed through her body, making it go numb within seconds. She attempted to cry out for help, but couldn't form the words.

_Why is it always me that ends up with the injuries? _She had thought as her vision faded to black, falling unconscious within seconds. She was released from the invisible bindings and the floor opened up beneath her as she took the plunge into the depths below.

Durnell rounded a corner that eventually came out into open air. The tunnel opened up to another enclosed area. It was almost empty, save for a few wilted flower beds and a perfectly intact altar that had a small purple orb resting inside a dark gray goblet adorned with skeletal fingers and short ivory tusks wrapped around the rim. Similar to the entrance, this section of the ruins were unaltered in the slightest. Way too perfect for traditional ruins.

He took a knee and placed his hand on the soft ground, waving it back and forth. Save for a few small bumps, the ground was fairly smooth. He stood up and deduced that these ruins haven't been explored or inhabited in centuries, and thus haven't been tampered with by human hands. At most, the tides and general weather was the cause of most, if any, deterioration.

The next thing he decided to examine was the orb inside the goblet.

"..Remarkable! It looks like an ordinary crystalline orb, but inside appears to be tiny fragments of hematite. But...that's only been seen up in the Cicada Mountains." He lowered his eyes and noted the positioning of the hematite. "This crystal was forged by someone a while back. From the size of the fragments, I'd wager this was fairly recent. Eight months at the most."

The Cicada Mountains were usually guarded by an ancient red dragon, so access to its rich materials was quite difficult. Whoever excavated the hematite must've been skilled enough to get past the dragon unscathed, or somehow formed a bond with it.

"I wonder what'll happen if I were to split this open." He set the orb on the ground, and went behind the altar and threw a vial directly on top of the orb, all the while ducking to avoid the explosion. A light explosion ensued, but it was well contained with a small blast radius. When the small puff of smoke cleared, Durnell glanced carefully over the top of the altar to see the damage. Surprisingly, the orb shattered into six separate shards and nothing more. _Not what I had expected, but at least it wasn't booby-trapped._ He walked over to the orb, when something caught his eye. Each individual shard contained a Nordic letter traced into the center.

"D...V...A...I...I...L..." His eyes sparkled with excitement. "By Odin's beard. The answer is Ivaldi!"

The earth rumbled beneath him as he spoke that very word. The floor collapsed, taking him down along with it.

"Oh, you have got to be kiddin' me!" His voiced echoed as he went under.

Reina was still traversing her section of the tunnel-like passage. She figured Avia and Durnell have already made it through, but wasn't completely sure. She had cast a light spell to assist with her navigation as she went deeper, but found this place to be an endless nightmare. No matter which way she turned, it seemed as though the trail was leading her in a complete circle. Reina decided it was time to cast a bit of magic.

She stood up straight and placed her hands in front of her palm down as she spoke the incantation.

"Spirit of fate, I call upon thee to guide my way through this passage. _Kiris lorea._"

Her hands were outlined in white and started flickering as a small summoning circle appeared right below them. Out from the circle, a floating green orb appeared taking the shape of a directional arrow. It turned a few times to get a sense of its surroundings, then moving slowly west of Reina.

"At last I know my spells still work_._"

She followed the summoned arrow as it guided her through the maze with little difficulty. However, the arrow eventually stopped in place and pointed down.

"Strange...why would you point down?"

She knelt down and knocked on the spot. It was hollow. A secret passage! Reina let a slight smile form on her face as she cancelled the spell, making the arrow disappear.

"Thank you, spirit. I knew I could count on you."

She backed up a few feet and pointed a finger at the hollow spot as she gathered a bit of magical energy. _Fire in the hole._ She thought.

"Earth below me, submit to my will. _Phiae kar reth!"_

A burst of energy shot from her finger and coated the area, crackling energy dancing around it before seeping into the ground. The stone turned to mud, and then to dust. Instead of it opening to a deep chasm, it opened up to a flight of stairs going straight down. Whoever created this was clever, as the stone has to be at least two feet thick to avoid it collapsing below someone's weight. Reluctantly, albeit with no other choice, she decided to make the trek down the stairs.

About twenty feet down, the stairs came to a halt, and the room opened up. Large gray walls stood erect on both sides eight feet up and continued on to the next corner where they changed direction. She tried backing up towards the path, but stopped in an instant as a waterfall of rocks and bounders came raining down, closing off the entrance. She was trapped.

Durnell woke up with his head _pounding_ and his back almost thrown out.

"_Oh..._this ain't good. Mah head feels like it's been slammed against mah Uncle Lexar's anvil, and mah back feels like it's been hit repeatedly with a sledgehammer."

He waited a moment for his head to stop hurting before standing up and stretching out. His back popped five times before it was properly straightened out. He finally took the time to examine his surroundings. He knew where he was: a labyrinth.

Her heart skipped a few beats from the sudden cave-in. "What is going on here? This place is...ridiculous! And...judging by the structure, this can only mean one thing..."

Avia was already walking around the area for a few minutes when she realized where she was. She knew this wasn't good.

"..Don't tell me..."

They were all thinking the same thing:

_**MINOTAURS**_


End file.
